Daraine Luton, Staff Reporter

An emotional Kern Spencer could not hold back the tears inside the House of Representatives on Tuesday as he listened to allegations of mismanagement during the distribution of 'free' Cuban light bulbs, a project he headed under the last People's National Party government. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

KERN SPENCER has always been a cry baby. At least, that is the picture he has painted of himself.

In an interview with The Gleaner yesterday, the first-time Member of Parliament for North East St. Elizabeth, says it is not the first time that he has publicly displayed emotion.

"The best of men cry," Mr. Spencer told The Gleaner, when asked about him deviating from this widely-held image of men being macho.

Although he has wiped the tears away following his breakdown in Parliament on Tuesday, Mr. Spencer says he and his family have been hurting over the entire ordeal which is wrapped up in the controversial Cuban light bulb distribution project. He says he is not ashamed of crying and his family would not have been embarrassed by him doing so.

"They (family) know that I am very emotional. To see me crying is not anything strange to them," Mr. Spencer told The Gleaner.

"If I'm leaving them for a while they know I will hug them and tears will come to my eyes ... when I am successful at anything, when I win an election, I cry. I am very emotional like that. It would not have come to them as a surprise," Mr. Spencer said.

Someone who gets emotional easily

And it is not just his family that knows him as someone who gets emotional easily.

"I have been getting a whole lot of love from them [constituents]. Everybody is coming, wanting to console me. They know me. They know that I am a hard worker and that I mean well. They know that I am emotional. If I am keeping a meeting and I expect 10 persons and 100 turn out tears will come to my eyes."

The 33-year-old Spencer has been in a pickle since Clive Mullings, the Minister of Energy, Mining and Telecommunications, disclosed that the last People's National Party government accrued a bill of more than $276.5 million in the distribution of free Cuban light bulbs.

Mr. Spencer was the State Minister in the Ministry of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce, which undertook the bulb distribution project. He had direct responsibility for the project in the ministry which was headed by Phillip Paulwell.

On Tuesday, Mr. Mullings informed the House of Representatives that the Fraud Squad had been called upon to investigate the matter, which has also been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The Contractor General and the Auditor General were earlier asked to investigate.

"It's a very rough period," Mr. Spencer admitted yesterday.

He added that he has always wanted to set the facts straight but that he has been prevented from doing so, and this contributed to him breaking down and crying inside Parliament.

"From day one, from the first time it came, I wanted to put the facts on the table but when I realised that I was prevented from doing it, I broke down in tears. It is very hard to sit down and listen to some of the inaccuracies that are coming out," Mr. Spencer told The Gleaner.

While he stayed clear of discussing the allegations of fraud and malpractice, he said he has no doubt that he will rise from the ashes.

"I know that everything was done with good intentions," he said, adding that the programme will cut the country's energy bill by $500,000.

"At every step of the way it is going to show that I tried my best to ensure that everything was above board."

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com